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2016-11-15 Council minutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY STATE OF MINNESOTA Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held Tuesday, November 15, 2016 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the regular meeting of the City Council, City of Mendota Heights, Minnesota was held at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Krebsbach called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following members were present: Councilmembers Duggan, Povolny, Petschel, and Norton. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council, the audience, and staff recited the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA ADOPTION Mayor Krebsbach presented the agenda for adoption. Councilmember Norton moved adoption of the agenda. Councilmember Petschel seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 CONSENT CALENDAR Mayor Krebsbach presented the consent calendar and explained the procedure for discussion and approval. Councilmember Duggan moved approval of the consent calendar as presented and authorization for execution of any necessary documents contained therein. a. Approval of November 1, 2016 City Council Minutes b. Approve Resolution 2016-90 Canvassing Results of November 8, 2016 General Election c. Appoint of Part Time Clerk / Receptionist d. Approval of September 2016 Treasurer's Report e. Approval of Claims List Councilmember Petschel seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 1 PUBLIC COMMENTS Mr. David Hiner, 1295 Kenden Lane, came forward to speak about issues at the Mendota Heights Motel. The residents in that area are not feeling safe with things that have been going on at that location. He drove by this evening and observed many cars in the parking lot and the doors to the motel are left open. Mayor Krebsbach noted that this hotel has been a concern of hers as well and asked City Administrator Mark McNeill if he had any information. She stated she has not seen any complaints come through the Council. Administrator McNeill replied that from a zoning standpoint the city does receive an occasional call regarding vehicles parked on the grass. The Police do follow up on the complaints. Mr. Hiner continued by stating that a cars are frequently parked on the grass and/or not moved for months. Administrator McNeill stated that staff would follow-up on this complaint. Mayor Krebsbach noted that the Council would certainly follow-up on this topic. Mr. Hiner expressed interest in seeing the Police reports regarding this motel. A female resident came forward and expressed concerns about the activities she has observed at the motel. She recommended more Police presence on the site and that the laws are upheld as far as the abandoned vehicles, drug selling, and long-term living at the motel. Mayor Krebsbach requested information on the extent the Police have been patrolling this area. Chief Aschenbrener replied that the Police have been visiting the motel on a regular basis. He noted that they have been working on the missing person case since its occurrence last week. Long-term parking at hotels/motels is not unheard of and many in the area offer it. Last week the Police gave notice to the motel that the van needed to be moved off of the grass. Mayor Krebsbach requested a copy of the Police logs in terms of activity at that motel for the last six months. Councilmember Povolny encouraged the speakers to call the Police when they observe illegal activities. PRESENTATIONS A) AIRPORT PRESENTATON — CONVERGING RUNWAY OPERATIONS Mayor Krebsbach noted that the City of Mendota Heights has three leadership teams; Parks Commission, Planning Commission, and the Airport Relations Commission. She thinks all of the residents should know about the Airport Relations Commission because they monitor the airport. They are engaged in a very important issue for everyone in terms of their livability. City Administrator Mark McNeill introduced Ms. Elaine Buckner, Air Traffic Manager at the Federal Aviation Administration and Ms. Dana Nelson, Manager of Noise, Environment, and Planning at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport (MSP) to speak about the Converging Runway Operations. Current and former members of the Airport Relations Commission who were in attendance introduced themselves. November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 2 Ms. Nelson and Ms. Buckner noted that they were going to provide a high level orientation to MSP, how the traffic flows in relation to the City of Mendota Heights, the new rules of Converging Runway Operations, the impact to flights over Mendota Heights, and the actions taken to date to respond to community concerns and plans for the future. Orientation to MPS Ms. Nelson began by sharing a graphic showing that the airport has four runways; two parallel runways are primary and they are operational all of the time unless there is construction or unusual weather. Those two runways are the ones that impact the City the most. The wind direction and speed have a lot to do with how the airport is configured or what flow it is in. The two common flows at the airport are arrivals on runway 12Left and 12Right and departures on those same two runways and on runway 17. Runway 17 is the new runway that was built in 2005; this flow is referred to as south flow and the airport often operates this way if the wind is from the south or the east. The opposite of that is when aircraft are arriving on runway 35, 30Left, 30Right, and departing on 30Left, 30Right over south Minneapolis. These two parallel runways do impact the City; typically, they hear more concerns and complaints from residents when they are in a south flow because of the departures that go over the City. The diagonal runway that intersects all of them was not mentioned in either configuration; this is because that runway is used very little because it intersects with the other runways. When the wind or weather necessitates that use, it really becomes a one -runway airport and has a very large impact on the efficiency of the airport. Runway 35 going north is not used over south Minneapolis. When that runway was built it was acknowledged that it would not be used to the north or from the north. That is because it would intersect with the flight paths of the parallel runways. When it was built it was communicated to the FAA that it would only be used from the south for runway 35 arrivals or to the south for runway 17 departures. Converging Runway Operations (CRO) Ms. Buckner explained that the CRO came about back in 2013 as there were a number of incidents that happened across the country with a similar type of geometry that is had at MSP, where two runways do not physically intersect but off the departure end of the two runways there is an intersection in the air that has to be protected. That intersection can be seen with runway 35 and 30Left and 30Right. When that was built it was known that this would be the situation so they built procedures that would deal with that situation. In 2013 when this rule was first introduced, MSP already had procedures in place that were looked at and found to be in compliance with the new rule. However, as time went by, the rule was readdressed in 2014 and 2015 Immediately MSP ceased arrivals to runway 35 while they determined what they needed to do to come into compliance. November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 3 After the December 2015 determination they had a couple of months to do a complete overhaul of their procedures and determine what they could do to reference the new rule. Beginning March 2016 MSP was in full compliance with the rule as it applies to both 30Left and 30Right. Ms. Buckner stated that at this time, MSP does not depart on both runway 30Left and 30Right at the same time due to the complexities of this rule and the complexities that adds to their ground taxiing as well. Councilmember Petschel pointed out that during the day, when the airport is using 12Left and 17 — 17 is sometimes taking 37% to 40% of those southern departures. Ms. Buckner stated that it is always good when they can separate the arrival and departure runway usage. If they can use runway 17 for departures and just arrive to 12Right, then it is a free flowing runway for departures. They do not have to time the departures with the spacing of the arrivals. The other thing MSP uses is what is called a mixed flow. They can be departing 12Left and 12Right and they can land runway 35 — that is one mixed flow operation. Or they can land 30Left and 30Right and depart runway 17 — that is a mixed flow that they have seen an increase in usage during this period of time with the new rule. Councilmember Petschel requested Ms. Buckner explain what happens when they are not handling the arrivals in a timely way. Ms. Buckner replied that they plan that out. Gone are the days where a plane is `on hold' over an airport. It means that a plane coming in from Chicago may sit on the ground and take a delay of departure; it is metered. Metrics Ms. Nelson shared metric charts of how these new rules have impacted traffic in and out of the airport: • MSP departure runway use percentages — increased significantly (March — July) • Grid comparison of the over flights (2015 to 2016) for only runway 12Left and runway 12Right o Councilmember Petschel commented on the communities that have had a much higher noise impact since this implementation • Increase in 30Left arrivals and a decrease in runway 30Right arrivals • Change of percentage from runway 35 arrivals — went from 15% down to 2-3% Actions to Address Community Impacts Because there have been concerns from all cities impacted, this has been a long discussion at the Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) meetings. They recognize that it has been a very difficult summer for many residents because they were either consistently under the arrival path or consistently under the departure path and that consistency leads to a lot of concern and a lot of voices being heard. This led to the passing of a resolution by the NOC requesting the FAA to evaluate the environmental and capacity impacts of these rules. They recognized that these rules have significant changes in terms of runway use and of the arrival capacity that is being accepted at the airport now, and they wanted to have a system put in place to let the FAA know we need to study the impacts. The resolution was passed by the Airport Commission and forwarded to the FAA Headquarters. After a long-term solution November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 4 is identified and implemented, then the FAA will start the study of how this is impacting the residents around the airport in terms of noise and how it has impacting the capacity of the airport. Councilmember Petschel requested an explanation of how this has affected the long-term comprehensive plan at the airport. They are on the verge of spending $2B. Ms. Nelson stated they have put their long- term comprehensive plan on hold because of this issue. Mayor Krebsbach asked if this would impact the airport functioning as a hub. Ms. Nelson stated it should not have this type of impact. The understanding is that the airport is still able to accept airplanes at a rate that they could before. Councilmember Petschel asked why there are more departures that are turning north over Dodd Road. Ms. Nelson stated the determination of which runway they send departures to depend on the destination so there would be no crossover. The primary destinations from the runways affecting Mendota Heights are going to the north or to the northeast (i.e., New York, Boston, Philadelphia). Councilmember Petschel commented that the northern boundary of the Mendota Heights corridor is Highway 110; it is not the water tower. Councilmember Duggan noted times on the weekends that plane after plane after plane goes over. He asked how far apart in time they might be and why, in his impression, are they always over him and not anywhere else. Ms. Buckner stated the timeframe mentioned is a very busy time where the arrival and departure demand are starting to peak at the airport. There are separation requirements for departures off of the runways. Councilmember Duggan asked what the minimum timing or spacing between the first plane and the second plane is. Ms. Buckner replied the very minimum is 6,000 feet in the air. At this time, Mayor Krebsbach opened the floor for questions from the audience. Gina Norling, Airport Relations Commissioner, requested to be provided with the percentages of operations off of runway 12Left and the timeframe that was for. Ms. Buckner reviewed the screen showing the departures off of 12Left (in green) and 12Right (in blue). It was noted that the numbers are for all hours — not just nighttime — from March to July for years 2012 through 2016. Ms. Norling clarified that the reason for her question was that they are seeing on 12Left for 2016 — the airport has surpassed the upper control limit when they statistically plot that out so it's really gone quite higher than 17% in a lot of cases. They have been seeing upwards of over 21.7% of usage, which is not depicted here. Councilmember Petschel noted that `percent of usage' is different from the `number of operations.' Ms. Nelson replied that the difference being seen is in the time period she had in her chart. After July the airport has seen the percentage of departures increase beyond the 17.4% shown on her chart. Councilmember Petschel noted that nighttime operations have either been stable or decreased over Mendota Heights, but increased over Eagan. November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 5 Mayor Krebsbach asked if, because of the implementation of the rule, they are seeing an increase in usage. Ms. Nelson concurred. Typically in the summertime they are more in a south flow because of the southerly winds Summertime flows are creeping into the fall more. However, more and more the converging runway operation issue is resulting in south flow operations. Mayor Krebsbach asked where the City and the airport goes from here. It was stated that the Noise Oversight Committee is going to stay at the leading edge of this issue. They have a commitment from the FAA to come back and provide regular updates. They plan on having some of these tactics put in place: January is when they hope to have the first one implemented, and there will be a briefing to the NOC at their January meeting. The second tactic — once that gets resolved or receives FAA approval — the NOC will be updated on that as well. Because of the resolution that NOC passed, the FAA is going to do a study — environmental and capacity — and bring the results to the NOC. At that time, the airport can make the same offering to the surrounding communities to come bring that information to each of the individual cities. Councilmember Petschel noted that what she and the residents would like to see is the `before and after' figures and metrics once the two tactics have been implemented - not speculations, not guesses — but the actual metrics and impacts. Mayor Krebsbach requested, for high school students who may be watching this in fascination, to know what field Ms. Nelson went into for this job that she has. Ms. Nelson stated she received a degree in airport management with flight from Florida Institute of Technology. This is a degree that many people who want to become pilots will take, or an aeronautical science -type major. About halfway through her 4 -year degree she decided that airport management was calling her name. Ms. Buckner went to college for business management / marketing — but she had the interest in aviation. When she was graduating, she took the exam for air traffic controller school and that is how she started. Councilmember Duggan moved to commend the Airport Relations Commission members and the Noise Oversight Commission members — in the past and currently — for all of their hard work and taking the time to share their knowledge to keep residents informed on the goings on at the airport. Councilmember Petschel seconded the motion Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 No items scheduled. PUBLIC HEARING NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS A) SUMP PUMP INSPECTION PROGRAM Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek explained that in 2016 the Council adopted an ordinance that would establish a sump pump inspection program citywide. In 2014, the City did have some extreme rate November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 6 increases from the Metropolitan Council (MetCouncil) for excess inflow and infiltration or excesses flows to the treatment plant. Staff recommended that Council approve the hiring of a consultant to inspect properties for illegal sump pump connections. The program is going to be an extensive and last several months. Staff estimated that this would be a $180,000 to $220,000 project. They secured a quote from Foth Infrastructure & Environmental, LLC for $217,580 for this work. Staff would start by sending letters out to the property owners requesting they set up an inspection time. Mayor Krebsbach asked if all houses would be inspected. Mr. Ruzek replied that the quote they received is 1 -hour per property for a total of 2,000 hours; so staff is estimating 2,000 properties; roughly 50% of the homes within the City. Mayor Krebsbach asked what the basis was for identifying someone to inspect. Mr. Ruzek replied that newer homes were built according to the plumbing code. Mayor Krebsbach requested that Mr. Ruzek return to a future Council meeting to update the Council on the inspection program. Mr. Ruzek agreed to share that at a future Council meeting. Mr. Ruzek also noted that staff has done quite a few articles in the Heights Highlights letting the general public know that sump pumps connected to a sanitary sewer system are illegal. There have been a handful of calls and assistance to residents getting them disconnected already. Staff anticipates that this program will identify quite a few homes that have illegal connections and staff would work with them on options to disconnect them from the sanitary sewer. Mr. Ruzek, upon being asked by Mayor Krebsbach, noted that the funding for this project would be coming out of the water tower fund. Councilmember Duggan asked when, as a City, did they declare that there are illegal discharges. Mr. Ruzek referred to the City Code section 10-3-5b that reads "Surface Waters: It shall be unlawful to discharge or cause to be discharged into the municipal sewer system, either directly, or indirectly, any "clear water" as defined in section 10-1-1 of this title. (Ord. 496, 6-7-2016)." Councilmember Duggan wished to know which part of the budget for this project is `consultant services'. City Administrator Mark McNeill replied that he would not know if it would be listed as a line item. However, it was one of the discussion items had in terms of the use of the water tower fund. The other point he made was that staff did do a large education process last year to try to get people to voluntarily comply with the ordinance. He believed there were only four responses citywide. Councilmember Petschel added that it has been years since the plumbing code has not permitted discharge into the sanitary sewer system, and there are also homes that do not have a sump pump. Multiplying the number of homes by the cost of each inspection is where the dollar amount was derived from. November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 7 Administrator McNeill pointed out that if the City were to not get the separation completed and there was a wet year, the City would be paying significantly more in MCES charges. This benefits the entire community to ensure the rates stay as low as possible. Mr. Ruzek stated that the City is looking at an approximate $100,000/year surcharge fee from the MetCouncil for sending flows over its allowable rates. Councilmember Duggan asked if there is any mitigation for residents to become compliant. Mr. Ruzek replied that once they get a good database on what is actually out there, if they run into these issues Council could develop a grant program. Councilmember Duggan asked how it would be addressed if a homeowner denies access to the inspection. City Attorney Tom Lehmann replied that if a homeowner refused to allow the inspection it would be noted on the report and the City could assess a surcharge. Otherwise, the City could get an administrative search warrant to enter the premises to see if they are in compliance. This is an issue that is addressed statewide with regards to inflow. A lot of cities are dealing with this issue on an ongoing basis. Councilmember Povolny moved to approve Foth Infrastructure & Environmental, LLC in the not -to - exceed amount of $217,580, and further provide Foth with a Notice -to -Proceed with the project. Councilmember Norton seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 B) DISCUSSION OF 2017 CLEAN UP DAY EVENT Public Works Director Ryan Ruzek stated that in previous years Mendota Heights has held an annual cleanup day where residents bring accepted materials to a central location for recycling and disposal. In previous years this has been a combined effort of staff, volunteers, and contract waste haulers. Concerns were brought up over the last couple of years as far as liability exposure for the City. After discussions with neighboring cities, staff determined that the cost is on par with what the City has currently been paying for the event. Staff is seeking permission to request proposals for providing this service and providing the staffing to do the collection, the unloading, and cleanup of the site. Mayor Krebsbach noted that this has been a topic of discussion during the budget meetings. It is a great event but it is probably time to have it professionally handled. Councilmember Duggan moved to direct staff to negotiate proposals for a vendor -provided 2017 Clean- up Day event. Councilmember Petschel seconded the motion. Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 8 COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS City Administrator Mark McNeill made the following announcements: • St. Thomas Academy Soccer Team won the state tournament. • City Hall will be closed November 24 and November 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday. • The Par 3 is now closed for the golfing season; however, as soon as weather permits, it will be open for cross country skiing and fat tire biking. • December 3rd is Mendota Lights at The Village event from 4:00 — 7:00, including hayrides, face painting, petting zoo, strolling carolers at the station, Santa Claus will arrive at 4:30 p.m. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Petschel recommended a resolution recognizing the St. Thomas Academy Soccer Team. Administrator McNeill replied that that would be added to the next agenda. She recognized Lorri Smith and all city staff for their service in handling the election process. The early voting created an enormous issue in terms of resources at City Hall. She recommended that, going forward, the Council discuss this in a workshop to address the issues of space and extra help needed. Councilmember Petschel mentioned that on November 30 at Thompson Park in West St. Paul there is going to be a presentation on `Keeping Youth Safe in a Digital Era'. It is for parents, teachers, and any anyone who work with youths. Councilmember Duggan wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels. Mayor Krebsbach acknowledged that a resident, Mr. Todd Klinkle who was president of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, has passed away. She expressed her condolences to the family. She also noted that November 30 will be the second University of Minnesota lecture series on Healthcare by Dr. Ezra Golberstein, Professor of Health Policy at the University of Minnesota. She wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. She referenced a book titled "Democracy In America" by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831 and read this quote from it: "A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty." She believes that it has been seen at all of the Council meetings that there is a great spirit of liberty and dialogue and discourse. ADJOURN Councilmember Petschel moved to adjourn. Councilmember Norton seconded the motion. November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 9 Ayes: 5 Nays: 0 Mayor Krebsbach adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. 'Sandra Krebsbach Mayor ATTE Lorri Smith City Clerk November 15, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 10